Category: Global Health

Kampala, Uganda | A housemaid was sentenced to three years imprisonment on Wednesday for attempting to infect her boss’s two-year-old baby with HIV/AIDS. GODFREY SSALI Jemima Nasifa alias Tumukunde Zainabu a Rwandan, pleaded guilty to the offence of doing a negligent act likely to spread infection or disease, before Kampala’s City Hall Court, Grade One magistrate Beatrice Kainza. This after she had spent six months on remand at Luzira prison. The Magistrate on Wednesday convicted her on her own plea of guilt and added her three more years back to jail.…

HIV patients will soon heave a sigh of relief as they will no longer need to carry a lot of pills with the rolling out of a new antiretroviral drug which will be taken only once a week. SOURCE: SUNDAYNEWS: Robin Muchetu Scientists in the United States have conducted trials of the new ARVs that will see a patient taking one drug per week and it will contain enough medicine to last that period. This means that drug intake will be reduced from 30 to just four per month. Director…

Zambia’s cholera crisis which started in October 2017 continues to affect the lives of people in the southern African country. SOURCE: RadioVop Zimbabwe Authorities have said the number of persons infected continues to rise – they put the figure at 2,451 as at Sunday January 7, 2018. A local news portal said of the 61 deaths nationwide, 58 were in the capital, Lusaka. Another area affected by the crisis is places of worship. A number of churches announced cancellation of all services especially in Lusaka. The Reformed Church in Zambia…

ALL is set for the 2018 edition of the Clinical Governance Congress to be held in Cape Town, South Africa amidst indications that more than 200 health-care professionals from Sub-Saharan Africa will be in attendance. By Michael Gwarisa The congress will take place from 21-22 March 2018 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Speaking to HealthTimes, Clinical Governance Congress Events Manager Mpumi Mhlongo said the gathering will tackle numerous issues affecting the health delivery system and provision of quality healthcare to patients. “While accountability and improvement have been eminent…

By Daniel Phiri AFRICA Union says as people commemorate World Aids Day (WAD) it is imperative to note that access to universal health care is a fundamental human right. Most countries in Africa face a lot of challenges when it comes to the provision of universal access to health care owing to lack of adequate resources and poverty. This lack of access affects response to such diseases as HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria especially in rural areas where health facilities are dotted many kilometres from where people live. In a statement…

By Michael Gwarisa Tuberculosis killed not less than 1.7 million people last year in 2016 amid increased cases of drug-resistant (DR) forms of tuberculosis (TB), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has said. Four in five people with DR-TB remain undiagnosed, and only half of those started on treatment are cured. Two newer drugs to treat DR-TB – bedaquiline and delamanid – have been available for five years and could help save more lives. Dr Isaac Chikwanha, Medical Advisor for TB, HIV and Hepatitis C, MSF Access Campaign said less than 5 per cent of people who need the drugs actually receive them…

Finalise the draft policy and amend laws to save lives, activists tell dti PRETORIA – Today, more than 1,000 members of the Fix the Patent Laws Coalition (FTPL) will march to the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) in support of the government’s efforts to fix our patent laws and ensure everyone has access to the medicines they need. Made up of 36 patient groups and civil society organisations representing people affected by most major diseases in South Africa, the FTPL Coalition will hand over its in-depth submission in support of the draft…

SOURCE: THEGURDIAN UN body appoints Zimbabwean despot to help tackle non-communicable diseases, despite dire health crisis under his rule. The UK government has criticised the World Health Organization’s decision to appoint Robert Mugabe as a “goodwill ambassador”, calling the move “surprising and disappointing”. A Downing Street spokesman said British diplomats had raised serious concerns with the WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, over the decision to offer the high-profile role to the Zimbabwean president. The UN body asked the 93-year-old, who has been in power since 1980, to help tackle non-communicable diseases…

HealthTimes Reporter President Robert Mugabe has been appointed the World Health Organisation (WHO) Ambassador for Africa to help governments tackle chronic diseases such as diabetes, stroke, cancer and heart diseases. President Mugabe will work with national and local politicians to highlight the heavy economic and health burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), United Nations health agency said. WHO director-general Tedros Ad-hanom Ghebreyesus said President Mugabe’s appointment would enable governments to “strengthen our response together” to these “major public health challenges”. NCDs and injuries are responsible for 43 million deaths each year, according…

By Michael Gwarisa MEDICAL experts from six regional countries are gathered in Harare, Zimbabwe to deliberate and discuss the establishment of the SADC Medical and Dental Regulatory Association which will act as a regulatory body overseeing operations of of the dental health sector. Officiating at the meeting, Health and Child Care Minister Dr David Parliamentary said the government t of Zimbabwe was fully behind the formation of the Health and Dental regulatory body for the region. “I am very excited, not only am i exited for Zimbabwe but for the…